Green Singers

[nsbirdllady]

Hi everyone,
I have just recently adopted 2 male green singers and 1 male cutthroat finch who were at a local pet store for the past year and one half, all in the same cubicle. I was told that they got along great together, however, after a week of being with me, one of the green singers was being picked on (chased around the cage and feathers being plucked out of him). I immediately set up another cage and took the one being picked on out. I do have free flyers in my house, 2 tiels, 2 budgies and 3 lovies and am wondering if this might be what caused the disruption. You guys have any thoughts?
Thanks,
Donna

[Martie]

Do the free flying hookbills have access to the finches' cage? If so, you might want to keep an eye on them and see if the finches are being disturbed. I don't know that it has anything to do with the aggression, but the finches should not be subjected to that kind of stress.

As far as the aggression is concerned, I might wonder about your cage size - is it smaller than what they had in the store? They are now in a new environment and may be trying to establish a new social hierarchy. If the new cage is small, they may not have room they feel they need to do this.

[nsbirdllady]

No, my other birds don't go near them and the cage is ALOT bigger than the cubicle that they were in.

[finchmix22]

Is the cutthroat female? Maybe the males GS are fighting over the hen, even though it's not a GS hen. Cutthroats are aggressive, as GS can be with each other. So, you have three potentially aggressive birds in the cage together. It was wise to move the one who was plucked. You need to watch the other two and make sure they don't pick on each other still....

[nsbirdllady]

All three are males......the one that has been picked on is now in his own cage....the other two seem fine together....I may try introducing them all again at some point to see how they make out.

[finchmix22]

The one you removed, was it a GS? I'd probably leave the two GS males together, since they've been together previously and get a mate or friend for the cutthroat. Let us know how it works.

[nsbirdllady]

Yes it was one of the male Green Singers. Maybe I will try that.....I will definitely keep you posted as to how I make out with them.

[nsbirdllady]

Well, since I posted last, I went out and bought a flight cage (5'7" tall x 2'2" deep x 3' wide). I introduced all three of them into it (with lots of plastic greenery for hiding). They all got along for about 1/2 day then a bit of chasing took place between the two male green singing finches. Come daylight the next morning, the bully started chasing the other GS so much, that he could not eat or rest. I read online to take out the bully, not the victim, and keep him separated for a couple of weeks, then reintroduce them. Apparently, this may take the bullyness out of him. This is the last resort for this little guy.....I am so hoping that it all works out well for the three of them.

[Colt]

In the wild I don't believe Green Singers are really flock oriented. I believe they would be considered more solitary coming together to breed and raise young. They might associate in very loose flocks, but this is in the wild where there are no wire walls to keep a bird from fleeing a more aggressive one. There is a huge chance the two male GS are not going to get along and you'll have to keep them separated. I believe they will probably be happier that way. So don't feel like you're being cruel by separating them permanently as that's how they'd live in the wild.

The male Cut-throat should be fine with either male or perhaps housed by himself with a mate.

[nsbirdllady]

I have the two cages side by side.... and the two GS's are sitting as close as they can together and singing like crazy to each other.....

[finchmix22]

My male GS are kept in separate cages, that are side by side too. They also, sit at the end of the flight, as close as they can get to the other GS in the next flight, so about 3 inches away (cage bars between them). Yet, when they were in a juvenile flight together, they got along fine, until they hit sexual maturity and then, they almost killed each other. I had a similar experience with two hens, got along great when young, but tried to kill each other as they got older. Now, I keep one GS pair per flight, never same sexed pairs. They just don't get along with other GS. However, my GS get along fine with the other finches in the flight, which include RTPF, Owls, and Society's.

[Colt]

They are singing to each other to establish their territory. And sitting close to one another is them trying to show whose the biggest, loudest, sexiest male Green Singer there. That'll be pretty normal I think and at least you'll get to hear their song.

[Brette]

I had a green singer and he was a tough little nugget. He was very hard on the other birds in the aviary, to the point where he was so disruptive and aggressive that I had to re-home him. He now lives alone but seems to be happy enough, and more importantly, he is not beating anyone up.

I think that is typical of the breed. Separating them was probably a good idea. You don't want them to be stressed or injured from living together.

[jonvill]

Two male green singers or any members of the cardulinae family should not be housed together. They are songbirds and songbirds sing to attract females, establish territories and intimidate/challenge other males of their species and closely related species (canaries). You can house males together in a multiple group flock in a large flight or aviary. A bachelor cage of four or more.

[Olympic_Aiairies]

You should never house two male green singers together. Whether they are paired with hens or not. One pair per cage as they will fight trying to attract a mate.